


Escape the Night – OET: Willy Wonka? Really?

by Dede42



Series: Our Eternity Together - Delta's POV [2]
Category: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - All Media Types, Creepypasta - Fandom, Multi-Fandom, Original Work, Our ETerNity Together (Web Series AU)
Genre: Cages, Candy, Chocolate, Factory, Mind Control, golden ticket
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24648529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dede42/pseuds/Dede42
Summary: The search for Mystic continues and a golden orb leads the group to a town with a massive candy factory. Will they be meeting Willy Wonka? And why are the town folks all acting so creepy?
Series: Our Eternity Together - Delta's POV [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738468
Comments: 46
Kudos: 4





	1. PROLOGUE: WHY ME?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ETNMystic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Our Eternity Together](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489) by [ETNMystic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/pseuds/ETNMystic). 



> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time for the next installment of Delta's POV of OET. Onward!

**PROLOGUE: WHY ME?**

*****

When I was rescued and brought together with other ETN writers and learned the reason why the Cursed God was going after Mystic, it made sense, and it also made sense of why he was having his minions going after other ETN writhers like Nora for example.

However, something that _didn’t_ make sense, was why I was being targeted. I started writing ETN fanfics back in 2018, and what I was writing is very different from that of the other ETN writers, especially when it comes to Joey Graceffa.

I know that the Cursed God has been target us ETN writers by way of Mystic’s writings on AO3, and yet, I still don’t know why he would send some of his minions after me like that. What does he have planned for me? Or is he planning on just using me as cannon fobber?

All I know for sure is, is that whatever he has planned for me, I’m not going along with it _at all_ , that’s for darn sure.

I haven’t voiced this to anyone in the group, but I can’t get the question out of my head of why I’m being targeted, I just can’t.

Why me? Why come after me?

Will I ever get the answer to those questions? Will I ever get to go home?


	2. CHAPTER ONE: FOLLOW THE GLOWING BALL!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> I've decided to post the first chapter in order to move forward with this storyline. Onward!

**CHAPTER ONE: FOLLOW THE GLOWING BALL!**

*****

When Mystic disappeared once again, Candy Pop started throwing the mother of all hissy fits while the rest of us waited for him to calm down…again. I chose to use this waiting time to talk with Joey, who’d been sitting off to the side, and I knew this would probably be my only chance while Genevieve talked with MatPat, Safiya, and Ro about some sort of plan of what to do when Mystic was eventually found.

I went over to Joey and tapped him on the shoulder, startling him. “Sorry, uh…mind if I join you?”

Joey blinked and nodded. “Sure.”

I sat down next to him on the log and I held out my hand. “Delta.”

“Joey.”

“I know…and this is _a lot_ to take in,” I said, referring to everything that’s been going on, even before my arrival in the Christmas place.

Joey nodded. “Yeah, so you’re one of the writers?”

I nodded. “Yeah, mind you I only started writing ETN fanfics back in 2018, and not too long ago I started posting them on AO3,” I explained, “and well…here I am.”

“Why wait so long to start writing when the show stared in 2016?” Joey asked, curious.

I sighed. “Well, I didn’t have an account on YouTube,” I admitted, “and I wasn’t really in the best financial position to afford YouTube Red. So, I watched the first season on a different site, forgot about for a year, and then did the same with season 2. It was last year with season 3 that I finally got YouTube Premium so that I could watch all of the episodes, and after I found and read Nora’s writings, did I have the boost I needed to write my own fanfics and with my own OCs.”

“Really?” Joey asked, interested. “Tell me about it.”

I grinned and – was immediately distracted by an orb of gold light heading for the group. “What the-?”

Soon everyone was gathered around the golden orb that was floating in the middle of the circle that we formed, staring at it, and then Genevieve spoke.

“It must have come from a Wish stone. There is simply no other explanation for this!”

The orb glowed brighter, flew away and then came back, nuzzling Ro’s cheek, and then flew away, creating a path of gold glitter. It wasn’t hard to figure out that Mystic must’ve sent the orb for us to follow – well, it wasn’t hard for me to figure out, and some of the others started debating of what the orb meant and whether to follow it or not.

Ironically, it was Candy Pop who insisted that they all needed to follow the orb in order to get to Mystic, and soon that’s what we were doing.

Follow that orb!

*****

I wasn’t sure of how long we were following the golden orb through the forest, it was getting dark, and yet we were still following the orb toward something in the distance. I knew that I wasn’t the only one getting sore and tired.

I admit it that I’m a bit overweight and I did need to exercise more, and I was also getting a bit winded. I was worried that I would have an asthma attack, something that I hadn’t experienced in over a year since changing jobs, and I didn’t even know if the backpack on my back had an inhaler in the first aid kit.

“How much longer are we going to have to keep walking?!” Liza whined, pulling me from my thoughts.

“I don’t know,” Andrea R. answered, and she was wincing a little.“But these shoes are really starting to kill my feet.”

“Just dump them then,” Gabbie suggested from ahead of them, for she was walking bare-footed. “That’s what I did…”

Lyra spoke up, a pensive expression on her face. “Actually, I wouldn’t,” she advised, pointing ahead. “That looks like snow ahead.”

We looked ahead and sure enough, the ground was clearly covered by snow. “Great, anyone got snow boots?” I asked sarcastically while Gabbie paled and ran back for her heels.

“Snow?!” Sasha groaned. “C’mon! It’s supposed to be Spring by now!”

_‘Back in the real world,’_ I thought as we continued following the orb, Gabbie almost fell over while trying to get her heels back on, and it wasn’t long before we were walking through the snow.

“Aagh!” Candy Pop screamed when he slipped on the snow and nearly fell down. “Why am I wearing Mary-Jane’s in this crappy patch of the woods?!”

I glanced over at him, but didn’t get to say anything when Envy pointed out that there was smoke just ahead, and then the trees disappeared, revealing-

“Hey, is that a city?!” Dooper exclaimed, and sure enough, the golden orb was leading us to a city that was covered with snow and it strongly resembled the city from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which got myself, Alice (who’d pointed out the resemblance), Stella, and others excited at the prospect.

Candy Pop had no idea what we were talking about so he was given the basics about the kid movie, and when he asked if the kids mentioned died, he was told that no kids had died, but one of my fellow writers thought that four of the kids had been killed off-screen until I pointed out that the director made the movie for his ten-year-olddaughter, and there was _no way_ he would make a horror movie and expose his own kid to it.

Although Candy Pop was disappointed that no one died, he did want to see it and watch the four kids suffer, which really didn’t surprise me, given that Candy Pop was demon and currently stuck in Alice’s body, and so we followed the golden orb to the city and, hopefully, find Mystic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On Discord, the topic about Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, starring the late Gene Wilder, was brought up, and someone did think that the four kids who disappeared were murdered off-screen and that Willy Wonka was claiming that they would be fine.
> 
> I, however, pointed out a few things that proved that the movie wasn't a horror movie: 1. The director, Mel Stuart, made the movie for his own daughter and that there was no way he would dare turn his daughter's favorite childhood story into a horror movie. 2. This was done in the 1970s and horror movies wasn't a big thing until the 1980s. 3. Gene Wilder was unlikely to have done such a movie if the children were killed off, especially since he asked that the line about cannibalism be removed from the script as he didn't think it should be in a family film.
> 
> Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. See you all later. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	3. CHAPTER TWO: EMPTY CITY AND CREEPY GIRLS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Yes, it's time to see if that golden ball will lead the group to Mystic. Onward!

**CHAPTER TWO: EMPTY CITY AND CREEPY GIRLS**

*****

We followed the golden orb into the city, which was covered with snow and looked to be empty, saved for the smoke that was coiling into the night sky. The orb continued to guide us further into the city – until it disappeared, leaving us stranded.

“Where’d it go?”

“What the f*?”

“Why did it disappear?”

“Mystic must’ve made sure that it would only guide us to a certain point,” Genevieve theorized.

_‘That makes sense,’_ I thought, shivering and wishing that I had something other then a light jacket to wear. _‘I just hope we can get inside before anyone here catches a cold. Heck I just hope my asthma doesn’t become active by the cold.’_

“Ugh," Andrea R said, shivering. "This place is giving me the creeps.”

“Same here,” Alice agreed, shuddering.

“It does have a creepy feel to it,” I agreed, “and it does seem devoid of life.” _‘And if I see even_ one _zombie, I’m outta here!’_

Genevieve could tell that we were getting uneasy, and she reminded us all of why we were there. “Atmosphere aside, we need to find where Mystic is.”

And no sooner did she say that, then two smiling young ladies skipped into view, both were holding lollipops, were wearing frilly, candy-striped-dresses, and their braids were tied with red ribbon. They were also singing a song that immediately sent cold chills down my spine.

Genevieve approached the two girls. “Excuse me, young ladies," she greeted them, and they turned their heads in perfect unison to look at her. "Have you seen a blonde girl with glasses?”

I was unnerved at how in _synch_ the two girls were when they exchanged a look before looking back at Genevieve, and spoke in sequence.

“I don't believe."

"That we have."

"So sorry _.”_

_‘This is getting_ seriously _creepy,’_ I thought, shivering, but not from the cold this time, and I was surprised when DeStorm put a protective arm around my shoulders, pulling me close in a protective manner.

“Alright, do you know of someone that might know?” Genevieve asked, seemingly unfazed by the creepy girls.

Once again the creepy girls looked at each other, moving in perfect synchronization. And that was when, more creepily-smiling, well-groomed, well-dressed townsfolk began emerging from the buildings and side streets, and all of them had some sort of candy in their hands.

"You could try."

"The chocolate factory."

"It's just down."

"A few blocks."

"The candyman there."

"Knows everything that."

"Happens in this."

"Sweet little town."

"I'm sure that."

"He can help."

"You find who."

"You're looking for."

"Do you know where it is?" Genevieve asked.

"Of course we."

"Know where it."

"Is. Come and."

"We'll lead you."

"Right to it _.”_

The two girls then started skipping and singing, heading in the direction of the chocolate factory, and we all were creeped out by how the people were waving in sync to each other.

“I think maybe we should leave," Sierra insisted, shuddering. "This feels so Stepfordian."

"Not until we find Mystic," Tana insisted. "I don't care how creepy this town is. Well, I mean, I do, but I don't want Mystic to keep running off like this _.”_

“Come along with," the two girls intoned, having stopped and turned, when they realized that we weren’t following them. "Us. The candyman. Doesn't like to. Be kept waiting _.”_

We all exchanged uneasy looks and, reluctantly, followed them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Shivers* Ok, I admit that I scared myself a little when I wrote this. And while I haven't seen Stepford Wives, I've heard of it, and I've read up on it once.
> 
> I will see you all later. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	4. CHAPTER THREE: WILLY WONKA IS REAL?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Following creepy girls through a town filled with creepy people, absolutely normal, right? Onward!

**CHAPTER THREE: WILLY WONKA IS REAL?**

*****

We followed the creepy girls for several blocks and it wasn’t long before the chocolate factory came into view, and I will admit, that I did gasp with amazement at the sight, having grown up watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, plus Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I got a thrilled of excitement running up my spine, and I couldn’t help it, I did let out a little squeal that some of the other girls also echoed.

The building was massive, colorful, candy-coated, fenced in by a pair of large iron gates, and rainbow smoke was rising out of the many smoke stacks, proof that the factory was busy making all sorts of chocolates and candies.

I did my best to ignoring the creepy girls, who were singing eerily, by trying to imagine which version of Willy Wonka we would be meeting: would it be the Glenn Wilder version or the Johnny Depp version?

I was pulled from my thoughts when a man dressed in a plum-colored velvet jacket, a chocolate-brown top hat, and carrying a peppermint-styled cane, approached the gates, getting the attention of the group.

“Hello?”

“Hi!” said Colleen brightly. “We're looking for someone and these two said that you might know where she is."

"Indeed?"

"Her name's Mystic. She's kind of important to us," Alice added. "So can you send her out here?”

“I'm afraid no one will be getting _or_ out,” said the candyman and he tugged on the bars of the gate. “See, the gate's stuck. Perhaps if you could find some oil?”

“Where would we find it?” Sierra questioned and Candy Pop face-palmed.

_‘It’s a good question,’_ I thought, _‘cut Sierra some slack.’_

“Well, I suppose the auto shop would be the best place to look,” the candyman suggested thoughtfully.

Figuring that he was right, we left to look for the auto shop and get some oil for the gate, but I couldn’t help but feel like this guy was up to something. Yes, he seemed nice enough, but after that encounter with the creepy girls and seeing how the other townsfolk were acting, it was _way_ too strange and _way_ too creepy.

*****

Fifteen minutes later, we still hadn’t found the auto shop, having searched pretty much everywhere that we could think of, and during that time, I’ve sneezed twice. I was worried that I was probably going to get a cold, which was the last thingI wanted to deal with, and it was clear that the others were starting to get pissed.

“Auto shop?” Nikita scoffed, glaring around the city. “B*, where?”

“Maybe we should ask someone,” Eva suggested.

And, almost as if on cue, the doors on various buildings opened in sync and out stepped more Stepfordian-esque residents, smiling creepily.

“Seriously creepy,” I muttered, not liking the situation, and I could tell that Candy Pop was tempted to rabbit out of there, but to his credit, he didn’t.

Genevieve, however, approached the creepy people. “Excuse me,” she said politely. “Would you mind showing up where the auto shop is?”

In sync, the creepy people turned their heads and pointed in the exactlysame direction, and sure enough, they were pointing directly at the auto shop. _‘How did we miss that?’_ I wondered, perplexed.

“Thank you,” said Genevieve, and she ran for the auto shop.

When the residents began waving in perfect sync, the rest of us turned and hurried after Genevieve, spooked by the experience.

*****

We all entered the auto shop, ringing a bell in the process, and, like clockwork, two employees, dressed identically, came out of the back and waved, speaking in sync.

“Welcome to the."

"auto shop. How"

"on earth can"

"we help you?”

_‘Ok, this is getting to be_ too much _,’_ I thought uneasily. _‘What has been done to these people?’_

“Yes, we came from the candy factory," Genevieve began, seemingly oblivious to the strangeness. "We were sent to get oil for the gate. It appears to be stuck shut-”

“Here you go,” said the employees, interrupting her and placing anold-fashioned oil can on the counter.

Genevieve blinked and then quickly recovered. “Thank you. How much?”

“No charge,” said the employees. “Will”

“there be anything”

"else for you"

"this fine day?”

_‘No,’_ I thought, wanting to say it when Genevieve didn’t answer right away. _‘No, we don’t need_ anything _else from you creeps!’_

“No, I don't believe so,” she said finally, snatching up the oil can, and she exited the shop with the rest of us scrambling to join her outside as the two employees waved in unison.

“Have a good day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, even though this place is fictional, it's creeping *me* out in real life. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	5. CHAPTER FOUR: IS THIS A TRAP?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> The oil can has been found, can they now get inside the chocolate factory? Time to find out. Onward!

**CHAPTER FOUR: IS THIS A TRAP?**

*****

Heading back to the candy factory, I overheard Candy Pop whisper to Envy and Alice, “Doesn't this place seem really… off to you?”

“Of course it does," Envy answered. "We've got the two Shining twin rejects, Tweedlecreep and Tweedlespook back at the auto shop, and then the rest."

"Are we sure this is where Mystic is?" Candy Pop questioned.

"It's where that gold orb lead us,” Alice reminded him. “It must be.”

I was about to agree with Alice-

“Well, that’s odd.”

I turned and gasped at the same time as the group – for the gates to the candy factory were wide open, and there was something golden and shiny lying on the snowy ground just inside the gates. “Wait, they opened on their own?”

Ro hurried through the gates to reach the golden item with Genevieve, MatPat, Safiya, Alice, Envy, and Candy Pop following her, and then the rest of us entered as well, having been thrown for a brief loop by the gates being opened.

Ro reached the item and picked it up, revealing it to be a golden piece of paper. “It's a golden ticket, I think.”

Suddenly there was a loud clank and click, and I spun around with the rest to find that the gates had shut once again, with the creepy twins standing on the other side, smiling and waving at us.

“Hey!” Nikita snapped. “Let us out!”

The creepy twins shook their heads in sync and spoke.

“The Innocent One"

"has already arrived"

"at this factory"

"just as the"

"candyman wished she"

"would have. Now"

"he has collateral."

"A reason to"

"keep her and"

"the other innocent"

"one here forever."

With a final wave, they turned their heads 180 degrees and their bodies followed suit before skipping off as if nothing ever happened.

We stared after them with stunned expressions, trying to wrap our brains around what just happened, and then Tyler broke the silence.

“Were we…tricked?”

“I think we were indeed," Alison said with a sigh, before turning to the big candy factory. "This place looks familiar.”

“Familiar good or familiar bad?” I asked, and she just shrugged, which wasn’t really an answer to my question. _‘Either she doesn’t know or she’s just choosing not to answer me.’_

“On the bright side, Mystic has nowhere to run," Candy Pop giggled, clearly trying to sound devilish. "Now she'll _have_ to give me that answer.”

No one looked convinced, and then Calliope stepped up to the door and knocked on it a few times.

Moments later, a small window slid open, revealing the face of the candy man. “Oh!” he exclaimed, clearly pleased to see us. “Good, you got inside.”

“Yeah, but how the hell do we get back out?” Nikita demanded.

“Why would you want to leave?” the candy man asked, giggling. “Mere moments ago, you were just trying to get in!”

Alison’s eyes widened, clearly she recognized that giggle. “Wait,” she gasped, edging up to the front. “By any chance is your name…Lennan?”

The candy man froze, staring at her for several seconds before he finally gasped and slid the window shut.

_‘Ok, he must know Alison,’_ I thought as we stood there by the door, waiting to see if he would come back, and all the while it was getting colder and darker, making us all shiver when the wind started up.

A full minute passed before we heard the door open a crack and Lennan cautiously peered out, his eyes were fixed on Alison. “No,” he whispered. “It can't be…are you?”

“Lennan,” Alison stammered, staring at him. “It's…it's been so long.”

Candy Pop looked between them, looking bewildered. “You know this nut job – ouch!”

Genevieve elbowed him hard in the ribs and fixed him with a glare to be quiet, and I didn’t blame her in the slightest, having been tempted to do the same.

Lennan opened the door and stared at Alison with a mixture of disbelief and happiness on his face. “Alison? Is that truly you?" he whispered in disbelief, grasping her hands and pulling her inside, well, sort of spinning her inside, actually. "You don't look a day over when we last spoke. Tell me, how is my half-brother?”

“Um, hello?" Nikita insisted impatiently through chattering teeth. "This reunion is cute and all, but in case it hasn't occurred to you, we're turning into popsicles out here!”

I was relieved when Lennan snapped back to attention and ushered us all into the factory, which was, thankful, _warm_.

“Do be careful,” he said politely, shutting the door once we were all inside. “These winter winds can be quite unforgiving."

“Thank you,” I said gratefully.

"You don't say," Tyler mumbled pettily under his breath.

"How do you know this guy?" Liza asked Alison.

"We met through his half-brother," she sighed despondently. "You, Tyler, myself, and several others saw what befell him."

_‘Oh gosh, she means Sampson!’_ I thought, recalling how the poor sweet man had been killed in ETN 2 for helping Liza and Tyler trap the Gingerbread Woman inside the oven.

"You mean the guy who got his throat slit by that harpy?" Tana wondered aloud.

I flinched. “Tana…not the best way to break the news to someone.”

"Way to break it to him gently," Andrea R. scoffed, rolling her eyes.

My heart ached for Lennan when his face fell.

"So…" he squeaked sadly. "I guess he was doomed from the start."

"So how exactly did you meet?" Liza wondered.

"Lennan was supposed to be a full moon banquet for our clan," Alison explained to us. "But his half-brother and I created a diversion, allowing him to go free. After that night, he and I began meeting regularly until my father caught us together and he ran off."

"Yes, yes, indeed," Lennan added quite hastily. "One of the few truly terrible instances in my life. I mean, nearly becoming a feast for vampires. Speaking of feast, are you hungry?"

"Are we!" Gabbie drooled, her eyes twinkling.

"I'm starving," Joey affirmed voraciously.

I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I got to eat anything, and my stomach grumbled about needing food.

"Well, I recently finished a supper with a young lady who arrived here earlier,” said Lennan, “but I'd be more than willing to ask my employees to whip up something delicious."

"Young lady?" Candy Pop gasped. "What's her name?"

"Well, that's the thing; she never told me her name, though I think she might like the company,” Lennan remarked. “Or not. Either way, it doesn't matter. You're here now. Follow me.”

Although the experience with the creepy twins earlier had left us all on edge, especially what they’d said about Lennan, the thought of having something to eat and seeing Mystic again was more important, and so we all followed him deeper into the candy factory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, what is Lennan up to? And what does it have to do with all the creepy people in that town?
> 
> Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	6. CHAPTER FIVE: THE VENT CHASE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Yes, it's time to see if the group can find Mystic inside the chocolate factory. Onward!

**CHAPTER FIVE: THE VENT CHASE**

*****

The group followed Lennan to a pair of double doors, which Colleen pushed opened to reveal a room, and my jaw dropped in shock. The room had been drowned in every single type of sweet and pastry anyone could possibly think of or even imagine.

“Mystic?”

I blinked and sure enough, sitting in the middle of the room, was Mystic, and she had a deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face. “Mystic, there you are.”

Mystic, however, swept some choice desserts into her bag of teastones, and dove into the sea of treats, clearing intending on escaping once again.

“Oh no you don’t, missy!” Joey called out and Candy Pop dove into the sweet mass, and the rest of us followed suit.

“There’s enough sweet stuff to send everyone into a sugar coma,” I remarked as we all made our way through it, and discovered that Mystic had disappeared up a nearby stairwell. “Wow, she can move fast when she wants to.” And I jumped when Candy Pop launched himself out of the mass, coveredin sprinkles and caramel syrup, and he was growling at the top of his lungs.

“Get back here, Mysty!” he roared, charging on the stairs, and we all followed the demon, hoping to find Mystic before she either found a hiding place somewhere in the factory or wished herself away to somewhere else.

“Why's she gotta go Sonic on us every time we appear?” Dooper complained. “Where’d she go?”

_‘Good question,’_ I thought, just barely making it up the stairs and I was out of breath from running, but Alison grabbed my arm and made sure that I didn’t fall behind when Calliope called out to everyone that she’d found the room that Mystic had fled into, and she opened the door to reveal a second room decorated with enough ribbon candy to feed a small town, there were doors in the walls, plus vents, and one of the vents was missing a grate.

Soon the group was scrambling to enter the vent, some gripping about what it would do to their arms and knees, and I hung back, not sure that I would be able to fit – when I was suddenly lifted into the vent by DeStorm of all people and I had no choice but to go forward, following the echoes of the group as they searched the vent system and talked.

*****

I don’t know how long we were in the vent system, but I was worried that I would get lost as it was hard to keep track of the twists and turns of the vents, and with so many people talking at once, I was having a hard time keeping track of who was who and which way they could’ve gone.

*****

_‘This is going to take_ forever _,’_ I thought, following Joey, having nearly run into him a few minutes ago. _‘The odds of any of us finding Mystic is most likely 100 to-’_

_`“There she is!”`_

I jumped and conked my head on the low ceiling. “Ow!”

Joey looked back. “You ok, Delta?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I will be.”

We both hurried forward and came out into a large chamber, where everyone else arrived and had Mystic surrounded.

Somehow, I wasn’t entirely sure _how_ , we had managed to use the vent system and had cornered Mystic, who wasn’t thrilled to see any of us, and I had a feeling it had to do with the fact that the others tended to be overprotective of her. _‘Given the situation with the Cursed God, I’m not all that surprised that they would be,’_ I thought while the others were reacting to the surprising twist of fate.

“We've got you now, honey!" Nikita cackled. "Just give it up.”

“Wait," Alice gasped as she scanned around the vent. "Did we _all_ get here at the same time? Like, did we all block off her escape collectively?"

"That is _wild_!" Matpat commented amazed. "Seriously, the odds of this happening, especially when Mystic's involved, are infinitesimal!"

"I'm shook!" Tyler exclaimed. "Like, mega shook."

"You're telling me," Tristen agreed.

"I never thought this would actually happen," Candy Pop laughed ecstatically. "I never thought we'd do it, but we did!"

"Wait," Safiya interrupted skeptically. "There's usually a deus ex machina involved, _especially_ when it comes to hunting down Mystic."

"I don't care what kind of sex machina, whatever the f* that is, gets involved," Nikita groaned. "Just as long as we've got her cornered."

"B*ch, she didn't say sex machina; she said deus. ex. machina," Manny scoffed.

"Latin for 'God of the machine,'" Safiya added. "Kind of a convenient ending or device, means of escape, that kind of thing."

"Sometimes it's also called a Scooby Doo ending," Matpat added. "In the old theatre times, it was an ending where the Gods would basically come down on a machina, which was a kind of crane, and fix everything."

" _NEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRDDDDDDSSS!_ " Dooper called out.

"Of course _those_ two would know random s* like that," Colleen laughed.

"I Scooby Dooby Doo _not_ care!" Candy Pop snapped. "I've got a question that Lil Miss Mystic's gonna answer."

"Hey, was anyone supposed to keep an eye on her?" Gabbie questioned.

" _Are you kidding me?!_ " Nikita screamed.

This pulled me out of my own thoughts and – I saw Mystic had managed to take advantage of the debate by climbing through a little trapdoor that was just above us, and the door clicked shut just as a large percentage of the group collided with each other, having tried to go after her at the same time, and I couldn’t help but snicker at the comical sight.

“Quickly!” Calliope exclaimed, heading up the ladder to the trapdoor. “Up this ladder!” And one at a time, we all started up the ladder to go after Mystic…again.

*****

I was surprised to find that there was another level to the vent system and I agreed with Gabbie when she voiced that she expected to lose several pounds with all the running, climbing, and crawling around, for I needed to lose weight.

Ro was wondering if there was another way to corner Mystic, Alison mentioned that there were a few more intersection-style that the group could probably use to block off Mystic’s access, and then Calliope got another idea.

“Wait.” She turned to Genevieve, removed all of the jars, and popped their lids off one at a time.

I gasped when the souls of the fallen writers and YouTubers shot out of them and disappeared ahead of us. “Whoa!”

The rest of us crawled after them, and it wasn’t long before-

_`“_ _Where the f* do you think you're going_ _?”`_ said Lele’s voice as we rounded the corner and found that Lele had managed to grab Mystic by her ankle to keep her in place.

“Hell, probably," Mystic commented.

_`“_ _Look, can we just not play this game of chase anymore?"`_ Ciel's spirit groaned.

"Excuse you,” Mystic scoffed. “You're not the ones doing the chasing.” She managed to get her ankle free – and she was soon out of sight… _again_.

_‘Sonic the Hedgehog has_ nothing _on Mystic,’_ I thought as the hunt through the vents began once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news, Mystic has been found. Bad news, the group is now on a seemingly endless 'chase Mystic around the vents' chase sequence. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	7. CHAPTER SIX: MIND CONTROL!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time for more chocolate factory and to continue the search for Mystic. Onward!

**CHAPTER SIX: MIND CONTROL!**

*****

I don’t know for sure how long we were in those vents, but I was _really_ glad when we finally got out of them and ended up in what looked like some kind of control room…well, I was able to see the room after my eyes adjusted to the bright lights after being in semi-darkness for so long, and what I saw on those screens, sent shivers down my spine.

On each of the monitors showed one of the many townsfolk going about their day, both throughout the city, and even in their homes. Basically, Lennan had placed cameras _everywhere_!

“Alison, I hate to say this, but your friend has issues,” I told the female vampire. “This is _wrong_ on _so_ many levels.”

Alison didn’t say anything, but I could tell that she was worried, and I got distracted when Alice went to the control panel and pushed some of the buttons. And on one of the screens we could now see a man on his hands and knees, chewing on the newspaper in his mouth, and his wife was being completely oblivious to what he was doing.

“Is he… _chewing on a newspaper!?_ _”_ Tyler exclaimed in horror.

“What the hell is with all of these buttons?” Colleen wondered.

“I dunno about you guys," JC said uneasily. "But this kinda seems like some sort of mind control to me.”

“Mind control? Don't be ridiculous," GloZell scoffed. "That's just something in Sci-Fi and horror movies.”

Genevieve shook her head. “No,” she said and her voice actually wavered with muted terror. “I can assure you that it's _very_ real. And _this_ looks like a way to monitor those under someone's control.”

“I’m with Genevieve and Jc,” I agreed, swallowing a little. “This is _definitely_ mind control on a citywide scale.”

“Wait, is this…is this Lennan's doing?" Eva wondered, looking worried.

"Well, duh!" Nikita exclaimed, making me wince. "Does the homeboy on the screen _really_ look like someone who just chews on newspapers for fun?"

"You don't know what people are into!" she retorted.

"No, I think this is definitely some sort of mind control," Safiya gulped. "And I have a feeling that unless we're careful, we might be next.”

_‘Yeah, I rather_ not _deal with mind control right now,’_ I thought as a debate went on about what to do, and while many wanted to leave, others pointed out that Mystic needed to be found first. I turned my back on the monitors, creeped out what was on them, and I was wondering where Mystic could’ve gone-

When a bunch of sirens went off, scaring everyone, and I did scream while clamping my hands to my ears, silently cursing the fact that I had sensitive hearing, and was relieved when they stopped – only for there to be a series of ominous clicks, and the door to the control room slid open, allowing a brigade of blue-tufted, short-statured workers to enter and they started going from person to person-

“Let go of me, you Oompa-Looma reject!!”, Gabbie yelled.

“Oh my god, what are you doing, _STOP_ -!” Sierra shrieked until a golden-yellow sticker was pasted onto her forehead, and she slumped to the floor, motionless, and her expression was blank.

“Don’t let them put the stickers on your foreheads!” I yelped, dodging one of the workers, and soon fighting broke out with the YouTubers and writers fighting against the workers, and I immediately went into purple Kenpo belt mode, defending myself.

Don’t ask me which moves I used to defend myself from the workers, I was just reacting to the situation, and I managed to avoid the golden stickers for a good five minutes, before I tripped over someone, and face-planted onto the floor.

“Ow…” I got to my knees, saw one of the blue workers, and felt something sticky on my forehead before everything went black and silent.

*****

_`“_ _Come, my friends_ _…It’s time to go now…please do be sure to follow my lead…”`_

Vague sensation of movement…grabbing someone…moving elsewhere…sounds of locks…standing still…muffled voices talking…someone was shouting…waiting for orders…the master had entered…waiting for orders…master talking…others talking…shouting…waiting for orders…master has left…waiting for orders…

Voices speaking…shouting…silence…waiting for orders…voice speaking again…waiting for orders…door opened…shouting…door shut…voices speaking again…shouting…waiting for orders…cry of pain…waiting for orders…

_RIP!_

“Ow!” I yelped and blinked, looking around in confusion, for I had _no_ idea of where I was. “What the-?”

“Mystic! What’s going on?”

I turned toward Safiya, who was next to Mystic, who was wearing a princess dress and was strapped to a table, and I realized that she was having a panic attack. I quickly looked around the room, finding that Alice and Ro were also dressed like princesses and were strapped down, Genevieve was tied up and blindfolded, Envy was in some kind of flower, and there were some _serious_ creepy dolls pawing at Candy Pop, who was looking pained.

I spotted Mystic’s stuff and hurried over to it – only to have Jc snatch them up first, and took them to Mystic, who was freed from the straps – and she immediately ran out the nearest door, ignoring the protests from Colleen, while MatPat helped free Ro, and so I went to help with Alice – but she was freed by Calliope and Mortimer.

I wasn’t sure of what I was suppose to do, although I did freak a bit when Alice ripped the princess dress into shreds that she only had her undergarments on, and I hurried away while she went about freeing Envy from the flower. I managed find her clothes, along with Ro’s clothes, and brought them over to where MatPat gave Ro her clothes, and I was going to give Alice her clothes, but Gabbie insisted.

I let Gabbie have the clothes to give to Alice.

*****

Once Envy was freed from the Fonda flower, I thought that some of us would try to find Mystic while Alice worked on freeing Candy Pop from the shackles and the creepy baby dolls – but then the demon started acting _really_ strange, even for him, and that stalled the plan to search for Mystic, especially when Candy Pop started hissing and yelling.

“Stay away from my children!”

We all stared at Candy Pop, whose eyes were now a funny shade of red, some of the creepy babies were on his lap, and when Alice tried to free him, he actually _tried_ to bite her. I was wondering what was going on with the demon, and noted that Envy seemed a bit offish, too, for he was saying Alice’s name repeatedly.

_‘What’s going on with them both?’_ I wondered. _‘Is this more mind control?’_

Gabbie gave Alice her clothes, and they both glanced over at Envy, who was staring at Alice and was still repeating her name, and I looked at Candy Pop, who was now freed thanks to Alison slashing the restraints open, with concern, for he was mothering the creepy dolls and snarling at anyone who got too close.

“Envy? You ok?” I heard Alice asked, and when I looked back, I was relieved to see that he was holding her hand and wasn’t acting strange anymore.

_‘Well, at least Envy’s back to normal,’_ I thought as the group headed for the door and I followed, keeping a safe distance from Candy Pop and the creepy dolls that were following him like he was a mother hen, and calling him mama repeatedly. _‘Now if we can just figure out how to get Candy Pop back to his normal demonic personality, get rid of those dolls, and find Mystic, then we can leave this super creepy place.’_

That was what I was hoping would happen…I hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, that wasn't the kind of golden ticket I had in mind at all…stupid mind control. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	8. CHAPTER SEVEN: SEARCHING

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Time to search for Mystic…again. Onward!

**CHAPTER SEVEN: SEARCHING**

*****

I followed the group through the maze of hallways and doors, watching as Dooper ran around like an insane person, and still keeping my distance from Candy Pop and his legion of creepy dolls. I hoped that it wouldn’t take us very long to find Mystic, fix Candy Pop, and get out of there before Lennan and his workers managed to get the drop on all of us again.

“Now my tracker is always flawless,” Genevieve was explaining to Andrea R., pulling me from my thoughts, “but this is Mystic we’re trying to locate here, and fate always seems to have a way of thwarting even the best of our efforts. Can you track her down as well?”

“Using my apparently real-life Mystical powers?” Andrea R. asked sarcastically. “I’ll give it a shot…” And she started searching while the rest of us followed.

*****

I wasn’t sure of how long we’ve been walking, having discovered that my watch had been broken during the fight against the workers and I’d tossed it into what I figured was a trash bin of some kind, when I saw Genevieve and Andrea R. stopping near a door and were quietly conversing before entering the room behind.

The rest of us followed and found both women standing next to a hatch in the floor, and I had a strong feeling that Mystic must be down there.

“This is it…this is so it.”

“Excellent,” said Genevieve. “Thank you, Ms. Russet.” She then lifted the hatch open, revealing a hole with a ladder, and she started down, followed by Andrea R., Ro, Safiya, Gabbie, Nikita, Dooper, Tristen.

I was considering going down next – when Candy Pop suddenly charged forward and cannonballed down the hole, leaving the creepy baby dolls waiting by the edge. “Uh oh…”

“I’ll go.” And Alice climbed down the ladder.

Alison and Calliope made a point of moving the baby dolls away from the opening, and then they went down the ladder one at a time, leaving the rest of us to wait up here.

_‘We’re probably going to wait for a while,’_ I thought, not looking forward to another long wait to see if they would be able to get Mystic to come up here, and I wasn’t even sure if Mystic was down there or not.

*****

I was considering sitting against one of the walls to have a nap when there was a sound of shrieking that was quickly cut off, shouts, sounds of fighting, Mystic’s voice screaming something about the orb and not caring, and then the blonde shot up the ladder and ran past the rest of us, disappearing through the door.

“What was that?” Envy asked.

I sighed, having a feeling of what must’ve happened. “That was Mystic, and I’m guessing that Genevieve must’ve tried to use hypnosis to get answers and it backfired.”

*****

When Gabbie and Ro came up the ladder, they said nothing, but headed out of the room. However, when Alice came up the ladder, she shared with all of us what happened earlier, and I knew that I had been right.

_‘Mystic’s pissed, and I don’t blame her in the slightest,’_ I thought. _‘If you really_ care _about someone, you don’t force them to do anything that they don’t want to do.’_ I did push those thoughts aside to help Dooper lift the unconscious Candy Pop out of the hatchway and laid him on the floor.

When I heard Alice mentioned that Mystic had read some of the group’s minds, including that of the Cursed God himself, I was shocked since that was, to a certain degree, an invasion of privacy. _‘Although, I do wonder if Mystic read my mind,’_ I thought, really curious of what she could’ve found if she head.

“Mystic!”

I blinked and turned to find standing in the doorway was Mystic with Gabbie and Ro on either side of her, and I could tell that she was feeling bad for how she reacted earlier. I didn’t really blame her, I’ve been struggling with trust issues since elementary school, and it took time to gain my trust.

“I’m sorry I ran off like that,” Mystic apologized. “It was in the heat of the moment. We’re cool?”

After assuring Mystic that there was no hard feelings held against her, she let Alison help clean her up as there were traces of blood around her mouth and eyes, which I was alarmed to learn was from when she’d been hypnotized, and it was clear to me that Genevieve was feeling guilty for her actions.

After the apologizing was completed, a debate started of about whether Lennan had one of the tokens, what to do if he did, and Dooper was all for beating up the guy in order to get it. I wasn’t too big on violence, but if it meant avoiding a final death challenge, then it was worth doing.

Manny did make a remark of his own. “Uh, we might have to punch the s* out of him anyway," he reminded us. "As far as we know, he thinks we're still held captive in that room.”

Barely five seconds later, an alarm went off somewhere, and sirens started flashing their lights.

“On second thought, I retract that statement.”

“I’m surprised those didn’t go off sooner,” I remarked.

“So what do we do?" Nora panicked.

I glanced at Mystic, who was looking over to Dooper. the two of them smirked at one another before they both turned back to the rest of us.

"We go Sonic on this b*ch!" they exclaimed at the same time.

We were going to do _what_?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sonic? How can we sonic? Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	9. CHAPTER EIGHT: BATTLE AND CAGES

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Yup, time for another POV from Delta to see how they're handling things in the chocolate factory and its' insane owner. Onward!

**CHAPTER EIGHT: BATTLE AND CAGES**

*****

I wasn’t sure of what Mystic and Dooper meant by going Sonic, but I got my answer when they lead us all out into the corridor, and Dooper went into what was known as a Naruto run, disappearing from view very quickly, his voice echoing back to us.

_`“_ _Guys, you gotta do it like this! It really does make you run faster! Trust me_ _!”`_

Mystic did the Naruto run next and was out of sight, and soon the others did the same, Joey grabbing my hand and thrust me forward before I could even protest – and the next thing I knew, I was doing the Naruto run. I was surprised that I was able to do it, and that my asthma wasn’t being triggered in the process.

We all were doing the Naruto Run, only Envy was having issues since he kept tripping up on his vines, and it wasn’t long before we crossed paths with Lennan’s workers, and we all were soon in a pitch battle against them.

I resorted to my purple kenpo karate skills to fight off the workers, caught a glimpse of Mystic using a teastone, and soon Dooper was fighting with crazy katana skills that I’m sure that he hadn’t had before, and when Alice and Envy caught up, they joined in on the fighting.

I didn’t really pay attention to how the others were doing in the fight, given that I had my own hands full at the time, and it was only when I slipped on something slick and went sprawling on the floor, I realized that a number of the workers had been killed off.

I felt sick to my stomach, but I got back up and went back into the fight, kicking, punching, and throwing any worker that came after me, doing my level best not pay any attention to the dead and broken bodies scattered about the floor.

I’m not sure how much time had passed, but eventually the surviving workers finally fled, leaving their fallen comrades behind, and I became aware of Dooper Naruto running to a door and kicking it open. We all followed, and soon enough, we all were face-to-face with Lennan, who was sitting in a chair that he turned around so that he could face us, and there was a brief flash of fury in his eyes.

“Congratulations!” he shouted, catching us all off guard long enough for him to whip out a remote and pushed a button.

Multiple _CLANGS!_ echoed throughout the room, and soon we were all trapped inside cages that’d dropped from the ceiling.

“Seriously?!” I tugged on the iron bars rather uselessly, and I wasn’t the only one who was pissed to be caged up.

“You're a sick man!" Mystic spat. "Undressing women without their consent, especially whilst they're unconscious.”

I scowled upon hearing this. “You jerk! That’s wrong on _so_ many levels!”

Lennan ignored me and waved his hand at the cage, causing it to move forward so that Mystic was right in front of him. “Now, now, Roanna, you shouldn't be talking to your father like that, especially considering you're the second sweetest of the sisters," he tsked as he brought her cage forward. "Besides I _didn’t_ undress you. My workers did.”

“That doesn't make it any better!" Alice called out. "And why did you call her that? Her name is Mystic!”

Lennan turned and waved his hand so that Alice’s cage moved until it was next to the cage containing Mystic. “Oh silly Eulalie, always so confused.”

_‘Ok, this guy is_ seriously _off his rocker,’_ I thought. _‘Either he really doesn’t know their names, or he’s intentionally give them new names for some purpose.’_ I was suspecting the latter, given the incident with the golden tickets earlier.

“Please stop this!" Ro begged.

“But my dear Dulcinea," Lennan cooed as he brought her cage forward with a wave of his hand. "It's for the good of humanity. And after you've received your medicine, I know you'll see things my way.”

_‘Medicine?”_ I thought, confused until three mechanical hands descended from the ceiling, each holding a spoon that was filled with some kind of glittering pink liquid. “Oh crap! Don’t drink it!”

Mystic, Alice, and Ro did their level best not to drink the contents of the spoon, but that was when three syringes filed with the same pink liquid came out of the floor and, before I could warn the girls, they all got injected in the arms.

I watched helplessly as all three girls slumped, having fallen asleep due to the injections, and I was distracted when I heard the snapping of fingers. Looking around, I saw that Genevieve was waking up Candy Pop. “Candy Pop.”

“Holy f*, what happened?!” he exclaimed, sitting up bolt-upright, and ended up smacking his head on the iron bars of the cage. “Ow!” He went on a blue streak for several seconds before calming down and took in the situation that we were stuck in, but I could tell that whatever drug he’d been injected with earlier was still in his system since he was digging his fingernails into the palms of his hands so that he could focus.

_‘This is going to be rough for him,’_ I thought.

“Shouldn't take too long." Hearing this, I turned back and saw that Lennan was smiling lovingly at the sleeping forms of Mystic, Alice, and Ro. "When they wake up, they'll have not a mean bone in their bodies. Nothing but pure love and joy.”

I glowered at him, about ready to verbally rip him a new one, but when he turned his attention to Stella, who was trembling in her cage, I didn’t have a chance.

“Oh," Lennan cooed. "What do we have here? A little birdie in her cage?”

“Don’t call me that,” Stella spat.

Lennan smirked, pushing a button on his remote, and then next thing we all knew, Stella was injected and was soon fast asleep.

“Her too?" Nikita exclaimed. "What do you want with them?”

“I want a family,” Lennan responded. “I want to be the father that mine never was for Sampson. Caring, loving, understanding, forgiving. And I want them to have a mother that can be the same.”

He then went to the cage that held Alison and he knelt before it, pulling out a rainbow-candy striped box that he opened to reveal an off-brand ring pop. “Alison. My dear, sweet Alison," he begged, looking at her. "I implore you to say yes to my proposal. I even have a ring.”

_‘Oh gosh, I’m starting to feel sorry for this guy,’_ I thought, and I could tell that Alison was feeling sorry for him, too. I understood why he was doing this, but he was _seriously_ going about it the wrong way.

Alison clearly thinking along the same lines. “Lennan," she sighed. "I…I really don't think I can. Not if you're going to take away their free will.”

“But…” Lennan stammered, “if I don't, then they could become abusive."

"Then start your own family,” Alison suggested, clearing trying to get through to him. “Adopt some children and be the father you wanted for your half-brother."

"But it wouldn't be fair if it was just my family," Lennan protested. "Children around the world suffer from abuse and neglect at the hands of those who bore them and are supposed to care for them. I simply cannot take care of every single one myself, so a little mind control isn't such a bad thing, really. If you say yes, I'll make you the happiest woman in the world. You'll have four darling, loving daughters and a husband who would turn this world inside out and bend it over backwards just to make sure you know you're loved."

"But what about the rest of them?" Alison wondered, gesturing to the rest of us who were still conscious. "The rest of those you've captured in here. What of them?”

Lennan paused and thought about that question, which had me hoping that he would realize just how insane his plan was and put a stop to it before it was too late.

“Well, I don't really know,” he admitted, glancing around at the group, considering each of us. “Perhaps the plant man could make a nice companion for their playtime. The hypnotist could be the nanny. The beautiful raven-haired woman looks intelligent. She and the brown-haired man could assist me in candy ideas.”

My heart sank, for that wasn’t what I’d wanted to hear, and I didn’t even want to _imagine_ what he would do to me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lannan is insane! And I'm dreading of what he could do to Delta! Someone help get them out of there!
> 
> Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	10. CHAPTER NINE: SO. MUCH. BLOOD!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Everyone is locked up…again, Lennan is brainwashing Mystic, Alice, Ro, and Stella. Is the group doomed? Onward!

**CHAPTER NINE: SO. MUCH. BLOOD!**

*****

I was almost certain that Lennan was going to reveal more when Gabbie blurted out something that had me _really_ confused.

“But what about the Blood Moon?”

_‘Blood Moon? What is Gabbie talking about?’_ I wondered, for the only blood moon’s I knew about were the harvest moon in the fall when it became an orange color when there wasn’t a lot of forest fires going on, and the fictional Blood Moon on the MineCraft series _One Life_.

Lennan, however, seemed to know what Gabbie was asking about, and he turned to face her. “What of it, my dear? This factory is protected by a barrier."

"But the Blood Moon amplifies magic,” Gabbie pointed out, “meaning someone could easily remove the barrier."

_‘That’s not a good thing,’_ I thought, worried.

"Nonsense,” Lennan scoffed. “All spells are connected to my lifeline. If they wish to undo the barrier, they'd have to kill me."

_‘Shouldn’t have said that,’_ I thought, noting that certain people, Candy Pop included, had a glint in their eyes that I knew meant that they were tempted to commit murder, and then Ines pulled me from that grim thought.

"Wait," Ines said, gulping. "Is what Stella and the others just took…a spell?"

Lennan nodded. "As long as I live, that pure joy and love reigns supreme in them. They'll never even want to leave."

"Enough of this. What about the token?" Dooper spat.

Lennan faced him next. "What token?"

"Don't play dumb,” Dooper growled. “We know you have the next token of Everlock!"

"Token of Everlock?” Lennan repeated and then laughed. “Don't be ridiculous; those have been lost for a long time!”

“So…you don’t have one?” I asked, feeling a sinking sensation in my stomach.

“Of course not.”

“Pa…pa?" a cute voice yawned, sounding not far-off from Luna Lovegood.

I started and looked at where Mystic was caged and I gasped when I saw the transformation that she’d underwent: she was looking _super_ innocent, her eyes were like a little anime girl's eyes, amplified by her glasses.

“Oh my gosh,” I whispered, sensing my motherly instincts kicking in _big time_. “Mystic…”

Lennan spun around and gasped with a delighted smile on his face as he clapped his hands with delight. “Roanna.” He pushed a button on the remote, which opened the cage, and she landed on the soft grass that was the floor.

‘Roanna’ stood up, dusted herself off, and ran to him, embracing him. “I have a secret for you," she whispered. "I love you, papa."

"And I love you too," Lennan replied, tears of happiness streaming down his face as Alice and Ro were the next to awaken. He opened their cages and they too skipped over and joined in the snuggle pile.

Finally Stella woke up. "Is it too late?" she asked sadly, tilting her head innocently.

Lennan opened her cage. "Of course not, Aveline," he assured her.

I could feel myself melting at the cute sight, wishing that I wasn’t locked up anymore, and I had a feeling that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

"They kinda look like they're smothering him," Ines pointed out.

"If love must kill me, then I'll gladly die," Lennan wept happily as he hugged them. "This….this is what I want. I want all the children of the world to be as happy and loved as these four darling angels.”

I was struggling not to get emotional at the sight, but it was hard. _‘Darn me for being empathic,’_ I thought, feeling myself starting to tear up when I heard a clicking noise and Alison was released from her cage.

I watched as the vampire walked over to the snuggling group and she knelt down, her eyes were fixed on Lennan, and even from where I was, I could see the longing in her own eyes. _‘Uh oh, she’s going to say yes and we’ll be trapped and brainwashed forever’_ was the thought running through my head.

“Alison," he whispered joyfully. "Don't you see? We could be so happy together. This would be such a loving family."

"You're right," Alison said, smiling. "And I accept your proposal.”

“ _What?!_ ” I yelped, and I wasn’t the only one alarmed by what she’d just said.

“Alison, what are you thinking?!" Dooper exclaimed.

"I'm thinking, maybe he's right,” Alison answered, her eyes were fixed on Lennan. “The world needs more love." She then closed in on him, and the four girls moved away. "And what better way to show your love for someone than a kiss."

"I couldn't agree more," he chuckled happily.

_‘Well, it’s official,’_ I thought, watching as the vampire moved in closer, wrapping her arms around Lennan, who wrapped his own arms around her, _‘we’re throughly_ screwed _.’_

“ _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!_ ”

I jumped, hitting my head on the top of the cage, and as I rubbed my sore head, I stared in horror – for Alison had sank her fangs into Lennan’s neck. “ _OMG!_ ” I was frozen in shock – until she pulled away and the blood began flowing from his neck.

“Oh lordy…” I staggered, turned, and fell to my hands and knees, throwing up and crying, for I was sickened by the sight of someone _actually_ dying. There was talking, but I couldn’t focus, I was too busy being ill, and yet I was aware of two voices speaking in a different language.

“ _Nerine Galatea, thymo mihi dulcior Hyblae, candidior cycnis, hedera formosior alba, cum primum pasti repetent praesepia tauri, si qua tui Corydonis habet te cura, uenito._ ”

“ _Militat omnis amans, et habet sua castra Cupido: Attice, crede mihi, militat omnis amans_ _._ ”

I was also aware of someone singing in an angelic voice.

“ _Os iusti meditabitur sapientiam,_ _Et lingua eius loquetur indicium_.”

I stopped throwing up and just slumped against the side of the cage, tears still running down my cheeks as two more voices, one weakening and one strong, joined the angelic voice.

“ _Os iusti, meditabitur sapientiam,_ _Et lingua eius loquetur indicium_ _._ ”

“ _Beatus vir qui, suffert tentationem,_ _Quoniam cum probates fuerit accipiet coronam vitae. Kyrie, ignis divine, eleison,_ _O quam sancta, quam serena_ _quam benigma, quam amoena. O castitatis lilium_ _._ ”

All three voices faded, but I didn’t look, for I was sure that Lennan was now dead, and I didn’t want to see the blood, I just didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't handle the sight of blood very well, which is why I never look when getting blood drawn for blood work, donating, or even when I get a shot.
> 
> Now I'm not outright queasy, but that's just how I am. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	11. CHAPTER TEN: FRIENDS TAKEN!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Happy early Fourth of July! I'm wrapping up this story so I can start fresh with the next installment on Monday. Onward!

**CHAPTER TEN: FRIENDS TAKEN!**

*****

I kept my eyes shut, I could feel the tears still streaming down my cheeks, and then I heard more voices.

“What happened?” Alice’s voice.

“Alison. What…? Is he…? Oh God.” Mystic’s voice.

Someone else was crying, most likely Ro.

“He wished to die from love," Calliope’s voice. "So she granted that request.”

I heard someone run away and shouts of “Mystic!” and I knew that she was probably blaming herself for Lennan’s death and us all being there, and I didn’t blame her for feeling like that, but I still didn’t look or move, I was in too much emotional pain.

“Mystic, wait!"

“Not again…”

“Candy Pop!?”

“Hi, kid. Feeling like you?”

“I…uh-huh.”

I did flinch when there was the loud noises of something being cracked loudly, and then I head Envy’s voice.

“Alice!”

“Hey!” shouted Nikita. “Free the rest of us too, b*!!”

“Relax!” The sound of a cage door falling open after being knocked on. “He’s off to the Happy Hunting Farm so none of this s*’s gonna hold us up anymore.”

I heard the sounds of people talking and cage doors opening one by one, but still I didn’t move or react, I was in too much emotional distress after what I’d just witness. I was vaguely aware of someone opening the door to the cage and several pairs of hands gripping my arms and pulling me out, but I still kept my eyes shut, not wanting to see the blood.

“Oh my, Delta…” said Ines’ voice, clearly seeing the mess in the cage. “Let’s get her out of here, Nora. I don’t think she wants to see the dead body or the blood.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Nora agreed, and I let them help me out of the room while Alice was questioning Envy and Candy Pop to determine if they were ok, especially Envy.

“Are you okay!? You’re not still under the influence of those drugs are you!!?”

“…No.I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

*****

I could tell that we were out in the corridor because there was no smell of blood in the air, it was cleaner, and Ines and Nora got me to sit down on a hard surface, talking calmly to me as they managed to find rags and water, which they used to help clean my face and my glasses.

After about a minute, I finally opened my eyes, which were blurry from the amount of crying, and gave them both a weak smile as the rest of the group came out of the room. I saw Alison and saw that she’d made a point of cleaning herself off, so there was no trace of blood, but having seen what she did, I knew it’d be a while before I could go near her.

“You going to be ok, Delta?” Ines asked.

I nodded. “Eventually.” I got up off the chair and went with the group to locate Mystic, who I figured was back to normal since Alice, Ro, and Stella were clearly back to their normal selves. _‘I understand why Lennan was doing this, but the way he was doing it…that was the problem, not him, but his methods.’_

I pushed those thoughts aside and focused on staying with the group, just as a certain vent came into view.

“You think she’s in there?” Nikita asked skeptically.

“Positive,” Gabbie said with confidence. “It’s the nearest hiding place possible”.

“I just hope we find her,” Ro said, sniffling.

“We will, don’t worry,” Safiya said confidently.

“I second that,” Matt added.

Gabbie turned to the rest of us. “You all wait, here, and we’ll come back with Mystic, ok?”

The rest of us agreed and watched as Gabbie, Nikita, Ro, Safiya, and MatPat all climbed into the vent system once again to search for Mystic.

*****

I didn’t know how long it would take them to find Mystic, talk her down from whatever emotional ledge she was on, and bring her back, so I just sat in a chair and watched while waiting, noting that Envy had the remote that Lennan had been using.

He was explaining to Candy Pop and Genevieve that the late Candy Man had put an ankle restraint on his ankle and if he wasn’t careful with which button he pushed on the remote, he would probably blow himself up.

I noticed the candy bracelet on Envy’s ankle and guessed that was the restraint. I was a little startled when Candy Pop snatched the remote and pushed a random button that caused even me to flinch, but the restraint fell off, and I let out a breath that I hadn’t been aware of holding, and Envy did the same, clearly glad to be freed.

_“Genevieve!_ ”

I jumped a foot in the air as Nikita came running back, a frantic expression on her face, and had only Gabbie and Matt with her.

“Somebody just wished away Mystic, Ro, Safiya, and Alice!”

“ _WHAT!?_ ” Candy Pop shouted.

“No way…” Tristen whimpered.

“We’ve gotta save ‘em!” Dooper yelled.

“How do we save them?” I asked, worried.

“It must’ve been the Cursed God,” Genevieve snarled. “Wait here, everyone. I’ll be right back.” She took out a teastone and made a wish on it. “Take me to them! _Now!_ ” And in a flash of golden light, she was gone, leaving the rest of us behind.

_‘Great, friends get taken and we have to wait,’_ I thought, wondering just how long we were going to have to wait before Genevieve returned with Mystic, Alice, Safiya, and Ro. _‘Providing that they_ do _return and don’t just head off elsewhere, leaving us all behind.’_ I tried to bury that negative thought, but it wasn’t easy as it was a thought I’ve had before, and it was prone to popping up when I was stressed, upset, or both.

I then became aware of a golden light surrounding everyone, and I realized that we were being teleported by a teastone. “Here we go again!”

In a flash of golden light, we were gone.

To Be Continued…

*****

_I have so many, so many regrets._

_So many lies, so many broken ties._

_I wish for my old life._

_Wish I could fix my strike._

_Cause no one truly escapes the night._

_Oh, won't you help me escape the night._

_Oh baby help me escape the night._

_Escape the night._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where are we going to end up? And will it be a safe place? Bye for now! R&R everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Why did the Cursed God decide to target Delta? Out of all the ETN writers, why her? Even I don't know the answer to that question. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


End file.
